Why am I going to Kenya? Why am I going to Kenya? Why am I going to Kenya? Same words, depending on where I put the accent, very different questions. But the time has come to try to answer it, ahead of my getting shots next week.

Let’s face it. At some level I am terrified. I don’t like shots. It is very far away. I live on my cell phone and other electronics. It is not clear that I will have connectivity. I don’t want to stir up old wounds–and even some of the preparation that I felt necessary has done precisely that. And then there were the recent bombings, which, terrify me. So why am I going? Why is my hat still in the ring?

American Jewish World Service does terrific work. It has been doing so since 1985. It’s mission is “Inspired by the Jewish commitment to justice, American Jewish World Service works to realize human rights and end poverty in the developing world.” It has feet on the ground in 17 countries and has made a real difference in overcoming poverty worldwide. They are a trusted partner when disaster strikes. They know not only how to respond but how to be effective.

I have supported their work for a long, long time. I have any number of friends and colleagues go on their trips. This trip is pushing me out of my comfort zone. Why? What has me so disturbed? I am not sure I know the answer to that yet.

It turns out I know nothing about Africa, even less about Kenya. It has never been on my bucket list of places I wanted to go. Paris, sure, mostly to see Giverny where Monet painted. Savannah, to see Juliette Gordon Low’s birthplace. Moab, UT with the Adventure Rabbi to celebrate Passover in the desert. Sedona to hike. Alaska before the glaciers are no more. Africa? Not so much. Oh, I guess a safari would be interesting and the pyramids would be cool. But Kenya?

So why go? Why take the risk? How does this relate to my job as a congregational rabbi? Here’s what I think. Sometimes it is good to challenge yourself. There is no question I am learning in the process of preparation. I know where Kenya is now. I am learning about Kibera, one of the biggest slums  in the world. I am learning about resilience. I am learning how to make a difference with very little resources or capital. I am learning about social justice at a whole different level, at an international level. I know the phrase, we all do probably, “Think globally, act locally.”

The issues that American Jewish World Service is now investing in–preventing violence against women, children and LGBT community are ones I already work locally on. It makes me uniquely qualified for this trip. I am invested with the Community Crisis Center and the 16th Circuit Court Faith Watch Committee on Domestic Violence. I get it. I believe I am making a difference locally. American Jewish World Service makes the case that unless we solve violence against women globally, we cannot solve poverty. They have discovered that they cannot deliver basic services in the 17 countries they are invested in unless they solve this problem first. It is like Maslow’s pyramid. People need food, shelter, clothing, safety, security, love before they can be self-actualized. Those bottom rung needs must be met before you can do education.

However, maybe Maslow was wrong. How do you know which comes first? Food? But you can’t have food without a job. And you can’t have a job without daycare. Shelter? Same issues. Clothing? Water? At some point I want to throw up my hands and say, I can’t do this. You need all of it. It is not a chicken and egg thing. Maybe it is more like those hand held games with the numbers out of order and an open space. Your job is to get them back in order.

At one point, the director of the House of Hope, a women and children’s shelter in Lowell, MA said it this way, “We need to advocate for fair housing. But we can’t wait. We need to house the homeless today. We need to feed the hunger today. They are cold and wet and hungry today. They have needs today. They can’t wait for the government.” It is a both/and approach.

Those words stuck with me. Organizations are doing some of it today. Habitat for Humanity, House of Hope, the Community Crisis Center, PADs, more. They are providing for the needs today. And we need to. We are commanded to. But we also need to take things to the next level. To make sure that there isn’t hunger and homelessness in the next generation. To make sure that there isn’t violence against women–anywhere, anytime.

Can we do it? I am not sure. These problems are real. Intractable. We have the resources. I don’t know if we have the will. These problems have existed for a long time. We are commanded to work on them in the Bible. They were a problem that long ago. Problems that I have been working on for 30 years may be worse. Not because I have been working on them but because they are that difficult.

So I am going to Kenya because it gives me the opportunity to learn how to do advocacy on a global level while acting locally to solve the needs today. I am going to learn how to mobilize a community that is politically diverse so that like American Jewish World Service, I can live out my own vision of being “Inspired by the Jewish commitment to justice, working to realize human rights and end poverty”, of tikkun ha’olam, making the world a better place, from within a Jewish context.

We know that successful synagogues have successful social action programs, that is one way to build community, both internally focused and in the wider world. Sid Swartz in his book, Finding a Spiritual Home in his summation says that creating social justice agenda is necessary to creating a thriving community. “A true synagogue community provides motivation to look around, see the pain and suffering in the world, and begin the work of repair, known in Hebrew at tikkun olam…A justice agenda will move a community to the high ground of noble purpose. It will strengthen relationships between people doing important mitzvah work with each other. It will also result in attracting Jews to the congregation with deep commitments to working for peace and justice in the world.”  Bolding is mine. If my job is to grow the congregation, the best way I know how to do it, based on Sid Swartz’s work is to build a strong social justice agenda. One that is based on improving our immediate world around us, and in leaving a legacy of a better world for our children and grandchildren. That is the long term view.

How does going to Kenya help with this long view? It gives me skills in organizing, in advocacy and in growing community that go beyond Kenya or violence against women, girls and the LBGT community. It gives me knowledge that I didn’t have already allowing me to model being a life long learner. It gives me experience, chevruta partners, a wealth of resources to make our observances more meaningful. It gives me my own community beyond the synagogue walls.

I am going to Kenya to be inspired by other people who are doing the hard work down in the trenches. If they can do it, I can do it. If they can do it, we all can do it. And I will name it. I am brave enough to name it. I am going to Kenya to continue my own healing. And to give back to those who have helped me heal.

I am sure I will continue to wrestle with this question more as I continue to prepare and when I come back.